Whenever you are looking for a deep pocket preservationist who is looking for a project to dedicate themselves to, Rich Report would like to inform you of one of the best candidates out there. In 1925, Karl Howenstein and his wife Edith built this compact residence on a promontory near Elephant Hill Open Space in South Pasadena, which is located on a promontory near Elephant Hill Open Space. 

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In the early 1990s, when the Howensteins had moved to Los Angeles, they had been urged to do so by R.M. Schindler and his wife Pauline, who had become friends with them while they lived in Chicago. It was in the guest apartment of the Schindler's famed residence on Kings Road in West Hollywood that the Howenstein family lived their first two years in California before moving to South Pasadena, as detailed by architectural historian John Crosse.

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A few years later, Karl gained the position of managing director of the newly established Otis Art Institute with the assistance of Schindler. After two decades of divorcing Edith and marrying his second wife, Doris, Howenstein asked Schindler to remodel and expand his family home, which was his second wife at the time. 

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The Viennese visionary restructured the house by adding a new, rectangular addition placed at a 45-degree angle on top of the original house in order to change its shape. Aside from custom furniture and fireplace, Schindler also designed custom furnishings for the house, modeled on his "flying roof" and exhibiting the same dramatic lines as his "flying roof" insertion. 

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Moreover, according to Rich Report, the modernist master used a variety of design elements to capture the beauty of the property, including lofty beamed ceilings, clerestory windows, and ample expanses of glass that let in plenty of natural light and maximize the enjoyment of the property's panoramic views.

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In a trust sale listing with an asking price of $2.4 million, the Howenstein Residence, built nearly a century ago, has become available for the first time, nearly a century after it was originally constructed. While the modest bungalow packs four bedrooms, two bathrooms, and 1,299 square feet of space, the years have not been kind to it. 

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Despite the thoughtfully crafted furniture crafted by Schindler to echo the lines of the surrounding structure, it has been scattered to the winds, while ersatz unnatural finishes like wood laminate and vinyl tile have become prevalent. In any case, I think it would be easy for me to imagine the home restored to a shining example of Schindler's work, perhaps one that would receive Mills Act status. 

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There's no doubt that the vision is a long shot, considering that the house stands on a property that consists of four parcels totaling nearly half an acre just beyond the neighborhood. But miracles still do happen on occasion, so lets hope this turns out to be one such occasion.

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There is a pedigreed property at Compass that is represented by JB Fung of Beyond Shelter.

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